Get to know the people behind the platform! Meet Mckinney Holland, Senior Special Servicing Analyst on Groundfloor's Asset Management team. We caught up with him to talk about his role, how he came to work for Groundfloor, and what he enjoys most about the company.
What do you do at Groundfloor?
I am the Senior Special Servicing Analyst on the Asset Management team. As part of Special Servicing, I work with our foreclosures and real estate-owned (REO) properties. A lot of my day-to-day work consists of working with our attorneys and running financial scenarios for loans that are not performing and/or are at high risk of defaulting. Our goal is always to try to maximize repayment of our investors’ capital, so I play a key role in figuring out how we can achieve the best exit strategies on any of our troubled properties. I accomplish this by providing bidding instructions to our attorneys for foreclosure auctions, connecting borrowers with refinance lenders, maintaining detailed notes about properties we are monitoring, and otherwise doing what I can to ensure we’re getting the most back for each property.
Where are you from?
I’m from Clemson, SC.
What is your background and experience?
I am actually an accountant by degree! I used to do technical accounting - 10Ks, 10Qs, and SEC filings. So when I first came on board with Groundfloor, I was tasked with helping to file our financials as required under Regulation A+. Then, my role morphed into more financial operations, then I transitioned over to Asset Management. It’s been a pretty unique journey.
How did you come to work for Groundfloor?
I always knew I wanted to get into real estate. I actually wanted to do it in undergrad, but I ended up switching my degree from finance to accounting so I could graduate early. So when I was looking for jobs, I always searched for real estate and financial reporting jobs. One day, I saw a posting on LinkedIn that included both of these interests, so I applied. That job was with Groundfloor. I was fortunate to get my foot in the door, and a year later here I am.
How have you seen your role change as Groundfloor grows?
As the company continues to grow, we’ve been scaling up our lending operations tremendously. Last March, we hit a major milestone of closing 100 loans in one month, and we’re only going up from there. So with having more loans on the platform generally, we also have to handle more loans that go past maturity. We have to figure out the best ways to guide these loans to a successful exit and ensure that our investors are repaid. That’s what is driving the majority of the work for my team currently.
What excites you most about Groundfloor? What is your favorite part about working here?
I love how creative I get to be! We are given an end goal to work towards but how we get there is very much up to the individual. I am fortunate to have a great and super supportive team behind me – every manager I’ve had has encouraged me to do things in a creative manner, and they’ve been all ears when I suggest better or more efficient ways of doing things. As a result, I’ve been able to drive a lot of what I work on. If I have an interest in something, I’m encouraged to go after it.
I also really enjoy the team environment here. I truly believe the people here are the most interesting and talented people in the world! We’ve got folks who play piano, someone writing a children’s recipe book, someone who has snakes, someone who breathes fire…just looking around at all of our company's Slack channels is a testament to the variety of people who work at Groundfloor.
Which of the Groundfloor company values resonates most with you and why?
Authenticity definitely sticks out for me. We have a mission to give the little guy a fighting chance to participate and make great returns in this previously blocked-off asset class, and we really own that. A lot of companies say they are "for the little guy," but not a lot of companies actually are. Groundfloor actually is –it's something our founders talk about all the time, it’s something we use to guide our path forward every day. I think the fact that many of us at Groundfloor invest on the platform ourselves speaks volumes – we really believe in our product and mission.
Another one that resonates with me is agility. Groundfloor is incredibly agile! We are constantly changing things and looking for ways we can do things better or serve our customers more effectively. From the government shutdown in 2019 to the onset of COVID-19, the company has had to deal with so many challenges and hurdles, but we have always found a way to adapt and come back stronger than ever.
When you're not at work, what can we find you doing?
Every weekend in the fall, you can find me watching Clemson football! I’ve had season tickets to Clemson games since I was in the third grade, so whether I’m in person tailgating or at home watching on TV, you’ll always find me repping the Tigers!
In my day-to-day life, I enjoy going to CrossFit, and I have been getting really into smoking meats and other foods. I’m also a big wine enthusiast. I have a 40-bottle wine fridge in my home and it’s been fun keeping it stocked up with different wines and developing my palette.
Finally, I am a huge perfectionist when it comes to my front lawn. I love making it as perfectly manicured as possible. As far as I’m concerned, there’s a competition going on, so I have to make sure I have the best lawn in the neighborhood!
Thanks so much, Mckinney! We appreciate all you do for Groundfloor!